“Explore the entire South East of Russia”: Caucasian travelogues by Stepan Nechaev

Stepan D. Nechaev is a poet and prose writer of the first quarter of the 19th century, who is known not so much for his literary works as for his literary connections. He was friends with A. Bestuzhev (Marlinsky), was familiar with K. Ryleev, V. Kyuchelbeker, D. Davydov, N. Polevoy, published in almanacs “Polar Star”, “Mnemosyne”, “Urania”, in the journals “Herald of Europe”, “Moscow Telegraph”, “Well-intentioned”, “Ladies’ Magazine”. Nechaev undertook a long trip around the Caucasus for ethnographic study and literary description of an unfamiliar region in 1823. The result of this trip was two literary travelogues – a large poem “Memories” and prose “Excerpts from travel notes about South-Eastern Russia”. Most of the time the author-traveler spent on the Caucasian Mineral Waters – in Goryachevodsk (future Pyatigorsk) and Kislovodsk. However, the entire Caucasian route turned out to be much longer: through Starocherkassk, Stavropol and Georgievsk to the Caucasian waters and back – through Georgievsk, Mozdok and Kizlyar to Astrakhan and further up the Volga. During this voyage, Nechaev had a number of important meetings. The official and writer V. Timkovsky, who was under General A. Yermolov, may have revealed to Nechaev the secret plans of the environment of the “proconsul of the Caucasus”. The Kabardian educator Sh. Nogmov introduced him to the culture and way of life of his people. A disgraced officer and future participant in the uprising on Senate Square A. Yakubovich became a friend of Nechaev and the hero of one of his poems. Nechaev’s Caucasian travelogues were published in 1825–1826, being one of the last lifetime publications of this author. After the defeat of the Decembrist uprising, among whom were friends and acquaintances of Nechaev (K. Ryleev, A. Bestuzhev, V. Kyuchelbeker, A. Yakubovich), he also came under suspicion. No great fault was found for Nechaev, but he preferred to give up his dream of literary glory

1. Akopyan V. Z., Il’yasova A. A. Vklad predprinimatelei-armyan v razvitie Pyatigorskogo kurorta v dosovetskii period (Contribution of Armenian entrepreneurs to the development of the Pyatigorsk resort in the pre-Soviet period) // Gumanitarnye i yuridicheskie issledovaniya. 2017. No 2. P. 8–14. (In Russian).

2. Ambartsumyan K. R. Istoriograficheskie podkhody k izucheniyu istorii adygskogo naroda v XIX i XXI vekakh: sravnitel’nyi analiz (Historiographical approaches to the study of the history of the Adyghe people in the XIX and XXI centuries: comparative analysis) // Metamorfoz vs transformatsiya. Mul’tidistsiplinarnyi podkhod k izucheniyu istorii adygov v XIX– XXI vv. Mat-ly mezhdunar. nauch. konf. Rostov-on-Don: SFU publ, 2013. P. 217–226. (In Russian).

3. Arkhipov V. A. Literaturno-esteticheskie pozitsii “Polyarnoi zvezdy” (Literary and aesthetic positions of the “Polar Star”) // Polyarnaya zvezda, izdannaya A. Bestuzhevym i K. Ryleevym. Moscow, Leningrad: AS of USSR publ., 1960. P. 803–884. (In Russian).

4. Beituganov S. N. Kabarda: istoriya i familii (Kabarda: history and surnames). Nal’chik: El’brus, 2007. 784 p. (In Russian).

5. Bestuzhev A. Poezdka v Revel’ (Journey to Revel). St. Petersburg: Printing house of A. Plushard, 1821. 150 p. (In Russian).

6. Blaramberg I. Istoricheskoe, topograficheskoe, statisticheskoe, etnograficheskoe i voennoe opisanie Kavkaza (Historical, topographic, statistical, ethnographic and military description of the Caucasus). Moscow: Nadyrshin publ., 2010. 400 p. (In Russian).

7. Bronevskii S. M. Noveishie geograficheskie i istoricheskie izvestiya o Kavkaze: v 2-kh ch. (The latest geographical and historical news about the Caucasus: in 2 parts). Moscow: S. Selivanovskii publ., 1823. Vol. II. 485 p. (In Russian).

8. Volkonskii S. G. Zapiski (Memories). Irkutsk: Vost.-Sibir. publ., 1991. 512 p. (In Russian).

9. Vosstanie dekabristov: Materialy (Decembrist uprising: Materials). Moscow, Leningrad: Gos. publ., 1925. Vol. I. 540 p. (In Russian).

10. Vosstanie dekabristov: Materialy (Decembrist uprising: Materials). Moscow, Leningrad: Gos. publ., 1927. Vol. IV. 486 p. (In Russian).

11. Gil’denshtedt I. A. Puteshestvie po Kavkazu v 1770–1773 gg. (A journey through the Caucasus in 1770-1773). St. Petersburg: Peterburgskoe Vostokovedenie, 2002. 508 p. (In Russian).

12. Glagoleva O. E. Osnovatel’ narodnykh uchilishch Stepan Dmitrievich Nechaev (Founder of public schools Stepan Dmitrievich Nechaev) // Gordost’ zemli Tul’skoi (Zamechatel’nye lyudi nashego kraya). Tula: Priokskoe publ., 1991. Vol. II. P. 337–342. (In Russian).

13. Dekabristy: Poeziya. Dramaturgiya. Proza. Publitsistika. Literaturnaya kritika (Decembrists: Poetry. Dramaturgy. Prose. Publicism. Literary criticism) Moscow, Leningrad: Khudozh. literatura, 1951. 688 p. (In Russian).

14. Zapiski M. I. Glinki (Memories by M. I. Glinka). Moscow: Gareeva, 2004. 448 p. (In Russian).

15. Il’in P. V. Novoe o dekabristakh: Proshchennye, opravdannye i neobnaruzhennye uchastniki tainykh obshchestv i voennykh vystuplenii 1825–1826 gg. (New about the Decembrists: Forgiven, justified and undetected participants in secret societies and military uprisings of 1825–1826). St. Petersburg: Nestor-Istoriya, 2004. 664 p. (In Russian).

16. Istoriya russkoi literatury: v 4 t. T. 2: Ot sentimentalizma k romantizmu i realizmu (History of Russian literature: in 4 vols. Vol. 2: From sentimentalism to romanticism and realism). Leningrad: Nauka, 1981. 655 p. (In Russian).

17. Karamzin N. M. Pis’ma russkogo puteshestvennika (Letters from a Russian traveler). Moscow: Pravda, 1988. 544 p. (In Russian).

18. Karmov R. K., Yanova M. V. Obzor istochnikov po proiskhozhdeniyu aula «Karmovo» (1793–1825 gg.) (Review of sources on the origin of the village “Karmovo” (1793–1825)) // Istoricheskaya i sotsial’no-obrazovatel’naya mysl’. 2015. Vol. 7. No. 5. Part 2. P. 43–51. (In Russian).

19. K literaturnoi i obshchestvennoi istorii 1820–1830 gg. Soobshchil V. E. Yakushkin (To literary and social history 1820– 1830. Reported by V. E. Yakushkin) // Russkaya starina. 1888. P. 149–168, 311–332, 583–600; 1889. P. 319–330. (In Russian).

20. Kornilovich A. O. Zapiski iz Alekseevskogo ravelina (Memories from Alekseevsky ravelin). Moscow: Rossiiskii arkhiv, 2004. 656 p. (In Russian).

21. Krasnokutskaya L. I. Shotlandskaya missiya na Severnom Kavkaze, 1802–1835 gg. (Scottish mission in the North Caucasus, 1802–1835). Pyatigorsk: RIA-KMV, 2018. 307 p. (In Russian).

22. Letopis’ Pyatigorska / Avt.-sost. L. N. Pol’skoi (Chronicle of Pyatigorsk / Ed.-comp. L. N. Polskoy). Pyatigorsk, 1993 (1994). 122 p. (In Russian).

23. Maksimovich M. A. Vospominanie o Timkovskikh (Memories of the Timkovskys) // Kievskaya starina. 1898. October. P. 254–272. (In Russian).

24. Mukhanov P. A. Sochineniya i pis’ma (Essays and letters). Irkutsk: Vostoch.-Sibir. publ., 1991. 496 p. (In Russian).

25. Nechaev. K portretu D. V. Davydova (To the portrait of D. V. Davydov) // Vestnik Evropy. 1816. No 7. P. 169–170. (In Russian).

26. Nechaev. Vospominaniya (Memories) // Polyarnaya zvezda, izdannaya A. Bestuzhevym i K. Ryleevym. Moscow, Leningrad: AN SSSR publ., 1960. P. 619–628. (In Russian).

27. Nechaev. Otryvki iz putevykh zapisok o Yugo-Vostochnoi Rossii (Excerpts from travel notes about South-Eastern Russia) // Moskovskii telegraf. 1826. Part 7. No. 1. P. 26–41. (In Russian).

28. Nechkina M. V. Sledstvennoe delo A. S. Griboedova (Investigative case of A. S. Griboyedov). Moscow: Mysl’, 1982. 102 p. (In Russian).

29. O’Mara P. K. F. Ryleev: Politicheskaya biografiya poeta-dekabrista (K. F. Ryleev: Political Biography of the Decembrist Poet). Moscow: Progress, 1989. 336 p. (In Russian).

30. Orlova K. V. Istoriya khristianizatsii kalmykov: seredina XVII – nachalo XX vv. (History of the Christianization of the Kalmyks: the middle of the 17th – the beginning of the 20th centuries). Moscow: Vostochnya literatura, 2006. 207 p. (In Russian).

31. Pis’ma Aleksandra Aleksandrovicha Bestuzheva k N. A. i K. A. Polevym, pisannye v 1831–1833 godakh (Letters from Alexander Alexandrovich Bestuzhev to N. A. and K. A. Polev, written in 1831–1833) // Russkii vestnik. 1861. March. P. 285–335. (In Russian).

32. Pol’skaya E. B., Rozenfel’d B. M. Dorogie adresa: Pamyatnye mesta Kavkazskikh Mineral’nykh Vod (Dear addresses: Memorable places of Caucasian Mineral Waters). Stavropol’: publ., 1974. 176 p. (In Russian).

33. Polyakova A. A. Tvorcheskaya istoriya “Poezdki v Revel’” A. A. Bestuzheva (The creative history of A. A. Bestuzhev’s “Journey to Revel”) // Russkaya literatura. 2019. No 2. P. 68–77. (In Russian).

34. Popov A. V. Dekabristy-literatory na Kavkaze (Decembrist writers in the Caucasus). Stavropol’: publ., 1963. 168 p. (In Russian).

35. Poety 1820–1830-kh godov (Poets of the 1820s–1830s.). Vol. I. Leningrad: Sovetskii pisatel’, 1972. 792 p. (In Russian).

36. Pushchin M. I. Iz “Zapisok” (From “Memories”) // Pisateli-dekabristy v vospominaniyakh sovremennikov. Moscow: Khudozh. literatura, 1980. Vol. I. P. 231–237. (In Russian).

37. Pyatigorsk v istoricheskikh dokumentakh 1803–1917 gg. (Pyatigorsk in historical documents 1803–1917). Stavropol’: publ., 1985. 352 p. (In Russian).

38. Radozhitskii I. Progulka k Kavkazskim Mineral’nym Vodam (Walk to the Caucasian Mineral Waters) // Otechestvennye zapiski. 1823. Vol. XVI. No 44. P. 387–411; 1824. Vol. XVII. No 47. P. 411–456. (In Russian).

39. Russian State Historical Archive (RGIA). F. 1005. Inv. 1. D. 4. (In Russian).

40. RGIA. F. 1005. Inv. 1. D. 5. (In Russian).

41. Svin’in P. Pis’mo Izdatelya Otechestvennykh Zapisok k Izdatelyu (Letter from the Publisher of Domestic Notes to the Publisher) // Otechestvennye zapiski. 1825. Vol. XXIII. No 64. P. 241–250. (In Russian).

42. Strun veshchikh plamennye zvuki... Stikhotvoreniya poetov-dekabristov (Strings of prophetic fiery sounds ... Poems of Decembrist poets). Sverdlovsk: Sred.-Ural. publ., 1987. 368 p. (In Russian).

43. Fomenko V. A. Shora Nogmov i raion Pyatigor’ya: maloizvestnye svedeniya o zhizni kabardinskikh selenii kontsa XVIII – pervoi treti XIX v. (Shora Nogmov and the Pyatigorye region: little-known information about the life of Kabardian villages in the late 18th – first third of the 19th centuries) // Obshchestvo: filosofiya, istoriya, kul’tura. 2020. No. 6 (74). P. 116–122. (In Russian).

44. Shkerin V. A. Ot tainogo obshchestva do Svyateishego Sinoda: Dekabrist S. D. Nechaev (From a secret society to the Holy Synod: Decembrist S. D. Nechaev). Yekaterinburg: Ural University publ., 2005. 421 p. (In Russian).